Sine Die

A long night of quorum calls and Arizona oratory changed the Senate's mind about not adjourning when the House had suggested. Senator Curtis bided his time until late Tuesday morning, when Senators begin longing for lunch. Then he put again the proposal on which the Senate had split 40-40 the day before. This time the Vice President got no chance to keep his minions at work. The Senators voted 46 to 35 that they had had enough.

It has been a so-so session of Congress. President Coolidge congratulated both houses with a warmth which was surprising in view of the lesions Congress had caused in the Administration's program. Congress had far overshot the Coolidge ideas on farm-relief and flood control; overcut the Mellon idea of tax reduction; left stranded the Wilbur "Big Navy"; appropriated some 500 millions beyond the Budget; retained Muscle Shoals instead of disposing of it as Mr. Coolidge urged.

The amount of work done rather than the kind was evidently what President Coolidge had to admire. Reapportionment of popular representation and disposal of the Boulder Dam bill were the gravest omissions. Disagreement on farm-relief and failure to vote at least some of the Big Navy, after Europe had been made to understand the U. S. really needs more ships, were the gravest embarrassments.

In all, 19,777 measures were introduced and 923 successfully passed by the first session of the Seventieth Congress. The second session convenes on Dec. 3 (the first Monday).